Toronto FC: Domenico Criscito setback not as bad as it seems

Domenico Criscito has reportedly now decided against joining Toronto FC at this stage, but this won’t necessarily have much of a negative impact.

Recent speculation indicated Domenico Criscito was going to sign for Toronto FC on a two-year deal and join them at some stage during March. However, the latest news on Monday now paints a different picture.

As per Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun, Criscito will no longer be leaving Genoa, at least while the Serie A season is still ongoing. He does not want to abandon his current club while they fight against relegation, which is commendable.

In news which was first reported by Sky Sport Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Buffery goes on to note TFC and the former Juventus player are still in talks. As such, there is a chance a deal will still be struck in the summer, once his current contract with Genoa expires.

It is entirely understandable if the first reaction of fans is one of disappointment. After all, their club is coming off a game versus the New York Red Bulls, where the defence was torn apart and conceded four goals during the first half.

If you delve a little deeper however, Criscito’s decision isn’t necessarily as bad as it may seem. For one thing, he wouldn’t be able to have an immediate impact on the pitch anyway.

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Consider that the 35-year-old is currently out with a calf injury, which has been a recurring issue. He has also missed time with COVID-19 and been limited to 16 competitive appearances so far this season.

In addition, until recently the belief was that Criscito wasn’t going to be joining Toronto FC until July anyway, once the current Serie A season concluded. As such, the club now finds themselves back to where they were – in a manner of speaking.

Signing the left back is seemingly no longer a sure thing, but TFC will certainly do their level best to make this a reality (pending his injury situation). His experience — which includes 26 caps for Italy’s senior national team — would be invaluable.

Criscito offers some potential versatility, having previously played as a centre-back, wing-back and wide midfielder. He is also a scoring threat who has six goals in his 16 games this season; just two seasons ago, he scored a career-high 10 times in all competition.

This scoring threat is in part helped by the Cercola, Italy native being an excellent penalty-taker. As per Daniele Proch of Forbes, he has converted 24 of 26 career penalty attempts.

Are you concerned about Toronto FC, now that Criscito will apparently not be joining them for the foreseeable future? Do you predict he will still eventually make the move to Southern Ontario? Let us know in the comments section below.